Concurrent Model-Based Approach for Project-based Education

Since 2012, the MSc in Aerospace Engineering at Politecnico di Torino offers a space-oriented course, the Space Mission and Systems Design (Progetto di Missioni e Sistemi Spaziali) course, aiming at presenting the complexity, critical aspects, and opportunities of space missions and provide tools for their design. The systems are included in the broader concept of the space mission, which is deeply analyzed by studying the mission architecture, its elements, and their relations. Furthermore, students are provided with tools, methods, and techniques, needed to deal with space mission design and development. Above all, the course is based on a hands-on education method, taking advantage of the teamwork-based approach to learning the art of space mission design. In the a.y. 2023-2024, a Concurrent Model-Based approach has been employed to boost students’ knowledge and support their final small-sat mission project. STAR (Systems and Technologies for Aerospace Research) research group has been involved in the implementation of the software infrastructure needed for the concurrent approach and the teaching staff acted as the ‘Study Authority’ supervising the concurrent sessions and supporting when needed. However, the students themselves were called to fill in all the roles needed for a concurrent session, acting as Project Manager, System Engineer, Requirement Engineer, Cost Engineer, Risks expert, and subsystem experts, including the disciplines of Mission Analysis and Design, Electrical Power System (EPS), Attitude and Orbit Control System (AOCS), Propulsion, Structure & Configuration, Thermal, Telemetry Tracking and Command (TT&C), Payload. 10 teams of 14 students were created and a common mission with the possibility of choosing a different goal of opportunity was provided to them to work on. Each team member decided which roles they wanted to play depending on their preference, attitude, and previous experience. Concurrent Engineering is a systematic approach to integrated product development to reduce time to mission design, and reduce development costs, while increasing the quality of the systems developed, by carrying out tasks in parallel with quasi near-real-time teamwork. The design is conducted in sessions that require the participation of all specialists from different disciplines, including programmatic aspects but also main stakeholders and customers. This is an iterative process ensuring all aspects of the design in a quick, efficient, and complete way. The participation of all the experts from different disciplines simultaneously minimizes the risk of incorrect or conflicting design assumptions. Major decisions are collectively discussed, and the decision-making process happens by consensus. This approach allows for parallel design progression and provides an opportunity for disciplines that were traditionally involved at a later stage to participate from the beginning and correct any trends that may later create issues in the design. The ESA ESTEC Concurrent Design Facility (CDF) study flow has been used as a reference and adapted to the university course needs and constraints. Usually CDF process consists of (i) Pre-Study - system engineering preparation work, including meeting with customers; (ii) 8 sessions of 4 hours each, with a frequency of 2 times a week, where to iterate the design work concurrently ; (iii) Post-Study activities. Considering the nature of the SMSD course, it has been decided to set up 4 concurrent sessions in the aftermath of three weeks of theoretical and technical lectures and three weeks of teamwork in class as a pre-study, working on stakeholder needs analysis, mission statement, mission objectives, and high-level requirements. The sessions have been structured as follows (i) Session 1: Kick-off & Start of design; (ii) Session 2: First iteration with a preliminary solution implementation; (iii) Session 3: Refine solution (2nd iteration); (iv) Session 4: Final Iteration & Internal Final Presentation . To carry out the concurrent sessions, a system of Calculation Sheets complemented by software like STK and SolidWorks, coordinated by a central node for real-time information and data sharing, has been employed. Each session was structured as follows: (i) Session kick-off (15min) - status overview/recap and session’s objectives outline; (ii) Iteration Work (2hrs 15min) – actual work iteration with continuous internal communication and discussion (iii) Wrap-up (30min) - short presentation by each team and output transcription. This paper presents the implementation and outcomes of a Concurrent Model-Based approach in the SMSD 2024 course at Politecnico di Torino. It outlines the involvement of the STAR research group, the role of the teaching staff, and the structure of Concurrent Engineering sessions for a large number of teams in parallel. The paper also highlights the adaptation of the CDF study flow to meet the course's needs and describes the challenges both the students and the teaching staff faced during the sessions in terms of logistics, communication, and knowledge transfer, and how these were overcome. Finally, it provides insights into the effectiveness of this approach in enhancing collaborative learning, hands-on skills in space mission design, and achieving educational objectives.